Divided We Fall
by LilPotterfanfic
Summary: Thirty two Hogwarts students, six weeks in the Forest of Dean, no magic, eight Hufflepuffs, eight Ravenclaws, eight Gryffindors, and eight Slytherins. Camping, what fun. (Dramione, set after the Battle of Hogwarts.)
1. of Prejudices Past

**Divided We Fall**  
**Chapter 1: **of Prejudices Past  
**A/N: I have officially revised Divided We Fall! Yes, I went back and corrected all the spelling mistakes that happened because I am an awful speller who has WordPad, which doesn't have spell check. Sorry about that guys. **

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Ron Weasley proclaimed as he, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter made their way to the Great Hall.

"Wich part?" Harry asked, setting his heavy backpack on the stone floor of the corridor that had been specially made for the day, "Lugging a bunch of muggle camping supplies to the Great Hall, being forced to spend our summer here, handing our wands in to Professor McGonagal, not being allowed to leave Gryffindor Tower, or not being allowed to go to the Great Hall the normal way?"

"All of the above, I'm guessing," said Hermione.

Ron nodded, and they made their way down the bare corridor to the first door they had seen since leaving the common room.

Hermione was anxious to see the Great Hall.

It was three weeks after the battle of Hogwarts. Ron, Harry, Hermione and the remaining members of the Order had spent seven days repairing the castle, then had separated to sort their lives out.

Harry and Ron had gone to the Burrow, while Hermione had headed to Australia, where she had found her parents, and restored their memories.

The Grangers had spent a happy two weeks together, until Headmistress McGonagal had shown up at their house. McGonagal had told Hermione that she was required to spend the rest of the summer at Hogwarts, without giving any reason why. Reluctantly, Hermione had handed over her wand, and packed her beaded bag once more.

McGonagal had instructed Hermione to bring survival supplies, leading her to believe that she was being taken on some type of mission for the Order. The Grangers had had a teary goodbye, and Hermione was flooed directly to Gryffindor Tower.

Over the next two days, a steady stream of her closest friends had arrived.

When Hermione had gotten there, it had only been her and Neville for the night. Neither of them were to eager to sleep alone in their dormitories, so they had dragged their bedding down to the common room, and slept on the love seats.

The next morning their breakfast was brought to them by House Elves- with much indignance from Hermione- and upon trying to open it, they found that the Portrait Hole was locked.

When McGonagal had flooed in with Parvati Patil, they confronted her immediately, but she refused to tell them anything. She didn't return until tea time, when she simply dropped off Dean Thomas, and left without another word.

Seamus Finnigain came the same night, and Ginny came the next morning. Ron arrived at tea, with Harry following not an hour later.

The next day McGonagal had shown up once more and directed Seamus, Dean and Neville into the Common Room, and through a door none of them had noticed before. Parvati and Ginny had gone, and Hermione, Harry and Ron had just tramped down the long, dimly lit, door-less and windowless hallway that somehow ended up at the entrance to the Great Hall.

That was where they were currently standing, hands poised over the door handles, staring at each other with worried faces.

Wordlessly, the Golden Trio came to an agreement. Just like they had for the past seven years, they would face what was coming together.

**0ooo0**

Ginny Weasley whipped herself around to greet Harry Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall.

"Hey guys," she said blandly, as they stared mouths agape at the Hall.

"What-" Hermione asked.

"Are we in the same-" Harry questioned.

"Why does the Great-" Ron wondered.

"Weird huh?" Ginny interrupted, looking around at the room.

The usually bright, crowded, open and loud space was dimly lit cramped and silent. The enchanted ceiling above them was plain and black, and the House tables were no where in sight. The eight Gryffindors felt cold and alone in a space a quarter of the usual size of the Great Hall. The walls were black felt, and when the door dissolved behind him there was no exit. The room looked utterly different.

"What's going on anyway?" Hermione asked the others.

"Didn't we go over this in the common room?" Neville asked, walking over with Dean and Seamus in his wake.

"About seven times," Parvati answered, coming over as well.

They all turned as Headmistress McGonagal walked into the room, and they immediately started bombarding her with questions.

"What's going on?" "What's up with the Great Hall?" "Are we even _in _the Great Hall?" "Where'r our wands?" "Why are we here?" "Do you know how long we were in that tower for?" "Why haven't you told us anything?" "We were in there for two days!" "Is this Order business?" "Two bloody days!" "Talk to us woman!" "_TWO DAYS."_

McGonagall silenced them with a wave of her hands. "Just hold on a few more minutes. Now, when we let down the partitions I want you all to remain calm. Please remember who brought you here, and try to keep an open mind."

Ginny watched in wonder as the Headmistress turned to the partition to the left and let it down with a flick of her wand. The black felt crumbled into the ground and multiplying the length of the room by two.

The eight Gryffindors stared at Hannah Abbott, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Flinch- Fletchey, Susan Bones, Zacharias Smith, Gabrielle Tate, Gayle Pocklington, and Heidi Mackavoy of Hufflepuff.

"Gabrielle!" Parvati proclaimed, rushing over and hugging the pig-tailed girl.

The others smiled, feeling less-awkward now that Parvati had broken the ice, and Ginny sidled up to Harry.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

He turned around, rather startled, and blushed when he saw that it was her.

"Oh um, hi Ginny," he said lamely, looking around anxiously.

Ginny frowned, he had been like this ever since the battle. Even at the Burrow he was avoiding her, and she had barely been able to talk to him. She had been hoping that he would ask her to be his girlfriend again, but it didn't seem as though that was going to happen.

McGongall cleared her throat and stared at them sternly until they quieted down and payed attention to her.

"Thank you," she said primly, and collapsed another partition.

Ginny had a sneaking suspicion what they would see, and was proved right when they were joined by Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, Marcus Belby, Padma Patil, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Marietta Edgecomb, and Latisha Randell.

Ginny glowered at Marietta, who had betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge in Ginny's fourth year, and gave a slight grin to Michael Corner, and ex-boyfriend of hers.

McGonagall cleared her throat once more, and Ginny was surprised to see that Professors Flitwick, Slughorn and Sprout had joined her, as well as Hagrid.

Once everyone was looking at the Headmistress she addressed them, "Now, I want you all to keep an open mind, and remember that the past is the past. You've fought together, lived together, learned together, and plotted together, I now ask you to forgive together. While we must remember the past and learn from it, we must never resent someone for it."

And with that, she turned her back to them and lowered the last partition.

**0ooo0**

With his back to the wall, butt on the cold hard ground, and wand stripped of him, Draco Malfoy felt utterly pathetic.

Around him were his fellow Slytherins. Gregory Goyle sat in a corner made by two black felt partitions, looking as stupid as ever, with Adrian Pucey seated next to him. It seemed as though Goyle had found Crabbe's replacement only after three short weeks. Blaise Zabini was staring moodily at Theodore Nott who was pacing back and forth across the floor. Terrance Higgs and Tracey Davis were seated next to each other opposite Draco, talking in hushed tones. The loudest by far were Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode who had spent the past half hour complaining loudly about anything and everything.

Draco put his chin back in his hand glumly, his look around the room had told him that nothing had changed since the eight of them had been thrust in there an hour ago.

_At least the Disaster Trio are no where near here, _he thought in an attempt to cheer himself up, _I'm not sure I could stand the weasel's simpering. And Potty would probably be complaining about his scar hurting him, or recounting how he defeated the Dark Lord or some other rubbish. And the mudblood would be waving her hand around in the air answering some question no one asked. _

Draco shuddered as he thought the word 'mudblood'. He wasn't really sure what was wrong with him lately. Fifth year he hardly would bat an eye to throw it at Granger. He supposed it was from seeing his Aunt torture her.

There's something about seeing a word carved into your classmate's arm that makes it rather distasteful to you.

Draco started as Zabini plopped down next to him. He had been so wrapped up in thought he hadn't noticed.

"What?" he snapped at the regal looking snake.

"Relax," Zabini replied, throwing his hands up in a mock gesture of surrender, "I just wanted to talk."

"About what?" Draco grumbled, crossing his arms and sinking back down.

"Look," Zabini said in a whisper, giving an uncharacteristically anxious glance around the room, "I was just talking to Theodore about all this blood-prejudice dragon shit we've been force fed the last sixteen and a half years," Zabini leaned in a little closer, "He reckons it's all codswallop, and I agree with him," Zabini looked Draco straight in the eyes, "And I know you do to."

"What?" Draco said indignantly, hot panic rushing into his chest.

Zabini scoffed, "Oh come on Draco, I saw you shudder every time Pansy said the word 'mudblood' in the common room over the past few days."

Draco glared at him but remained silent.

"Who did you see tortured?" Zabini asked casually, noticing Draco's anger.

Draco didn't reply but added a scowl to his glare.

"I saw Dennis and Collin Creevey tortured to death during the battle." Zabini continued.

Draco intensified his death rays but continued to be quiet.

"Theodore watched Rabastan Lestrange rape Juliette Koffmann," Zabini said coolly.

_Draco watched numbly as his mother hesitated for a moment before addressing the werewolf._

_"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback."_

_"Wait," said Draco's aunt sharply, "All except... except for the mudblood."_

_Greyback gave a grunt of pleasure._

_"No!" for the first time in his life Draco admired Weasley for speaking up, "You can have me, keep me!"_

_Draco winced as Bellatrix hit Weasley in the face. _

_"Ifshe dies under questioning, I'll take you next," she said, "Blood traitor in next to mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs Greybeck, and make sure they're secure, but do nothing more to them- yet." _

_Draco felt sick to his stomach as he heard Greybeck croon from outside the room, "Reckon she'll let me have a bite of the girl when she's finished with her? I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"_

"Stop it Zabini," Draco warned tersely, his teeth grinding together.

But Zabini payed no mind and plowed on, "And both of us saw Penny Stipper murdered."

_"We found it!" Hermione screamed, "It's just a replica we found in an old wizard's shop!"_

_Bellatrix shrieked, "You lying little filth! Crucio!"_

_Draco felt sick to his stomach as he watched the brilliant witch he had spent all of school hating writhe in agony on the carpet in his drawing room. His crazy Aunt had already used the cruciatus curse on her, as well as cutting into her skin with an ornamental silver dagger that had hung over the mantle-piece. _

_"Crucio!"_

"Stop!" Draco snapped, absolutely livid, "It was Granger, alright? I saw Hermione Granger tortured on the floor of my drawing room by my bat-shit crazy Aunt, who carved 'mudblood' into her wrist! So you'll excuse me if I don't like the word that much!"

Zabini looked stunned for a moment, but a smirk slowly grew on his face.

"So," he said, amused, "The famous Draco Malfoy isn't blood prejudiced anymore?"

"Yeah," Draco grumbled reluctantly, "But don't go spreading it around. It'll make me look like one of those hug- happy Hufflepuffs."

Zabini sniggered slightly, "Well Drake-"

"It's Draco."

"Draco, Theodore and I have decided to band together to guard ourselves from the other freaks in Slytherin. You interested?"

"That's the gayest idea I've ever heard Zabini," Draco said.

"Suit yourself," Zabini stood up, "But I'm pretty sure you'll end up changing your mind."

Draco snorted, "Fat chance."

Zabini raised an eyebrow, before walking back to Nott.

McGongagall bustled into the room, and the Slytherins fell silent.

She looked at them all before speaking, "Now, some of you are probably wondering what's going on here. You'll find out shortly, but first I want you to do something for me. Empty your minds of everything. All your prejudices and hatreds, and try to be open to change."

She bustled out just as quickly, and everyone exchanged surprised looks before rising from the ground and dusting themselves off.

"Bloody Salazar is going on here," Nott muttered from behind Draco.

After a few minutes of silence they heard a crumbling sound from the other side of the partition. They were all stunned to hear chattering, chattering from actual other teenagers.

The Slytherins exchanged incredulous looks as there were more crumbling sounds and more chattering.

Soon enough, their own partitions were being lowered. They waited nervously to see the faces that belonged to the voices, hoping beyond hope that their suspicions were wrong.

But alas, when the walls were fully gone, they were staring at twenty four of their worst enemies. With the Golden Trio front and center.

**0ooo0 **

Hermione and the others stared at the Slytherins for almost five minutes in utter silence, their brains not able to register the sight in front of them.

And then, all hell broke loose.

"What the fucking hell?!" Ron shouted at McGonagall, "What're the Death Eaters doing here?"

"Mr. Weasley!" Sprout spluttered.

Ginny groped around the insides of her robe for her wand, Justin and Ernie began to shout insults at the Slytherins. Parvati and Padma instantly began talking to each other in scared and excited voices. Terry Boot fairly leaped to tackle the Slytherins but was restrained by Hagrid.

"Whaddya' reckon, Harry?" Came Seamus's voice from behind Hermione, "Should we attack?"

Harry shook his head helplessly, "What're you asking me for, Seamus?"

Seamus looked at Harry in disbelief, "You're joking, right Harry? Of course you are. Why wouldn't we attack Death Eaters?" He pounded Harry on the back, "Good one, Harry!"

"SILENCE!" McGongall screamed, "I will explain everything to you if you will all calm down!"

With much grumbling, McGongall's order was heeded, and everyone glared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Thank you," she said, crossing to stand at the front of the room, "Now, you have all been brought here for a very special reason. The Order of the Phoenix and the Ministry of Magic are worried that there will be quite a bit of tension between students from Slytherin, and from the other houses. We have all decided, that eight of the most influential members of each House are going to be spending the rest of the summer together-"

There were more cries of protest and outrage before she quieted them once more.

"That's quite enough," McGongall said primly, "The entire purpose of this is to promote House unity! You will all be going along with this, without so much of as a peep!"

Most people glared at her, but everyone remained quiet.

She huffed and continued, "As I was saying; you will all be spending the summer together on a camping trip to the Forest of Dean, supervised by your Heads of House. There will be no magic, except for in dire emergencies, which is why we confiscated all your wands. We also thought it would be prudent for some of you to experience what muggles' everyday lives are like." She cast a stern glance over the Slytherins, "You will all be at least cordial to each other by the end of the summer, do I make myself clear?"

There were mumbled yes's from everyone and, apparently satisfied, she waved her wand in the air. All of the students' wands came dancing out of a cardboard box in Professor Sprout's hands, and levitated above their owners.

"_Alligaveritis!" _McGongall cried.

There was an odd silvery mist falling from the ceiling, that was absorbed by the wands, which clattered back into their owners' hands.

"This is a spell that binds the magic your wand can perform, you will only be able to cast a spell in a dire emergency," McGonagall looked around the room once more. "Do you all have your supplies?" She asked.

Everyone mumbled replies and she nodded.

Hermione shifted on the balls of her feet, waiting for McGongall to say something. McGonagall just stared at them, as if waiting for them to do something. Then, from beside her, Hermione felt Harry move. Then watched as he walked across the Hall into no-man's land, all the way over to the Slytherins.

The entire Hall stared, as Harry Potter walked up to Draco Malfoy, and stopped in front of him.


	2. Grudges Present

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 2: **Grudges Present

**A/N: Thank you all so much for the positive feedback! I appreciate it a lot! It really made my day to see how many of you enjoy this fanfiction! I hope you all like this new chapter! **

_The entire hall stared, as Harry Potter walked up to Draco Malfoy and stopped in front of him._

The back of Harry's neck tingled from the stares of everyone in the Great Hall as he walked up to the blonde snake. The bridge of his glasses started to slide down as his nose began to sweat, his body's natural response whenever someone was staring at him. Harry's scalp began to itch nervously under his messy black hair, courtesy of the heat from the intensity of which the others were staring at him. His footsteps echoed about the completely silent hall and they seemed to magnify to about a hundred times their usual volume.

It was unnerving, but after years of close knit contact with them, Harry could recognize each of his friend's individual gazes. Ron's stunned and overtly anxious glare was fixed on the back of his head. He could practically hear the 'bloody hell' being repeated numerous times in his best mate's head.

Neville's shocked stare was fixated on the small of his back. Even though Neville had matured greatly and gained unbelievable amounts of courage, the nervous awkward boy from first year was still a small part of him.

Luna's calm gaze was flitting absent mindedly over his person, warmth and trust permeating through it. Hermione's stunned,frantic and searching eyes were raking up and down his body. Harry could tell she was frustrated, she was a strange one. Harry had seen her hold it together while being tortured, chased by fiend fire, attacked by legions of death eaters and dementors, and held hostage by snatchers, but keep her out of the loop and the girl went ballistic.

Ginny's eyes were the ones that spoke volumes to him. He knew her best of all, having spent years with her, and three months head over heels in love with her. He still was actually. So he knew that she was nervous,Harry was walking straight into enemy territory after all, but there was an inordinate amount of trust and warmth in that stare. The kind that you only got out of two things: A faint teasing ghost of the feeling produced in anemortia. And those times when she would say or do something, or even just get a certain look on her face, that gave Harry that feeling.

Breaking up with her for her own safety was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. It had taken everything inside of him to keep walking away from her at Dumbledore's funeral, to keep himself from kidnapping her from the Burrow and running away to Scotland with her on his seventeenth birthday. He had left the Great Hall after defeating Voldemort with every intention of grabbing Ginny and kissing the living day lights out of her. To let every one know that Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter would always be together, would always be in love.

And then he had thought about it too much. He had over thought the entire thing and completely denied his Gryffindor nature. He was a coward, a coward who was scared that the girl he loved was never going to be happy with him. Who was scared that she didn't love him any more.

Harry blinked hard and was brought back out of Harry's-irrational fears-land, realizing he was finally standing in front of Malfoy.

Harry steeled himself for what he was about to do, and swallowed hard.

He extended his hand, every fiber of his being screaming at him to stop what he was doing. To not touch the man in front of him, to not touch the man who killed Dumbledore. But, if it weren't for Malfoy Harry never would have been able to defeat Voldemort. And Dumbledore had been willing to forgive him, so Harry would have to be also.

Harry's hand now fully held out, he stared Malfoy straight in the calculating and confused silver eyes.

"Look," Harry said, his voice commanding the attention of everyone in the Great Hall (with the possible exception of Luna). "You've made mistakes, we all have. We all have animosity towards each other, who could blame us? After all we've been through, it's amazing we aren't all trying to kill each other. But you know something, Malfoy? Dumbledore forgave you, and if he can, so can I. So, I'm giving you a third chance, Malfoy. Do you think we could abandon our old grudges?"

**0ooo0**

Draco stared at Potter's hand curiously, wondering what would happen if he took it. He actually did kind of agree with what Potter was saying, even if it sounded like some rubbish spewed out by a Hufflepuff, but Draco absolutely refused to let any emotion show on his face.

He had already told Zabini that even though he wasn't all too gung-ho about all that blood prejudice anymore, he wasn't about to go skipping through the grounds of the castle, screaming it at the top of his lungs. Agreeing to what Potter was saying would be practically doing the same thing. Draco wasn't sure he was ready to be "accepted" into the ranks of the "love conquers all" warriors of Hogwarts, or whatever it was these people called themselves now.

But, Draco found himself coming to a compromise.

He placed a carefully crafted sneer of disdain on his face as he grasped Potter's hand like limp lettuce.

"Fine," he drawled, "I'm willing to cooperate, but assume nothing of me, Potter."

Potter nodded and broke the hand shake, "I'm glad we were able to come to an agreement, Malfoy."

Malfoy nodded curtly and Potter walked back to his hyperventilating worshipers- err... _Anxious friends, _while Draco pointedly ignored the shocked looks on the other Slytherin's faces.

"Good," McGonagal said tersely, breaking the awkward silence they had lapsed into, "Now, everyone out onto the front lawn, we'll be dividing you into pairs. You'll sit with each other on the bus during the journey to the campsite."

"What's a bus?" Draco asked curiously.

**0ooo0**

"That smoking yellow hunk of metal is a fucking bus?!" Draco screamed once he saw the vehicle they were expected to ride, "You people think that I'm going to willingly spend what you say is going to be a bloody _all day trip _on that thing!?"

Draco was further infuriated by the fact that everyone was ignoring him.

"Aren't any of you listening to me?!" He screamed again.

"Nah," Zabini said, "We all tuned out around fifteen minutes ago..."

"If there are any bodies of water around where ever the hell we're going, Zabini, I'm feeding you to a kelpie," Draco muttered.

"Are you done, Malfoy?" Weaselette asked.

Draco glowered at her, but remained silent, while a flustered Professor Flitwick pulled a scroll of parchment from an inside pocket of his robes.

"Echemm," Flitwick cleared his throat, "Starting from the front on the left hand side, we will have; Harry Potter and Marcus Belby, Neville Longbottom and Terrance Higgs, Ernie Macmillan and Cho Chang, Heidi Mackavoy and Parvati Patil, Marietta Edgecomb and Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas and Blaise Zabini, Luna Lovegood and Zacharias Smith, and Hermione Granger and Padma Patil."

Half of the teenagers rumbled over to the smoking hulk of death, most of them glaring at each other. Draco's hopes raised a little higher, the expected seating arrangement for him had been to sit with Potter. The second most obvious was Granger, it would have been a natural thing to test his loyalty by sitting him with a muggle born, but that choice was void now. So two thirds of the "Golden Trio" were out, so long as Draco wasn't sat with the Weasel, all would be well.

"Next," Flitwick said, "Starting at the front of the right row, we will have; Latisha Randle and Millicent Bulstrode, Terry Boot and Gregory Goyle, Ron Weasley and Pansy Parkinson, Anthony Goldstein and Susan Bones, Michael Corner and Adrian Pucey, Theodore Nott and Gayle Pocklington, Tracey Davis and Justin Flintch Fletchy, and Draco Malfoy and Seamus Finnigain."

Finnigain... Finnigain... Draco knew that name... Wait, Finnigain was that one explosion-happy Gryffindor wasn't he? The one with the Scottish accent and the constantly singed off eye brows? The one who made the bridge explode and went through about sixty cauldrons a semester? The one who was Potter's self-proclaimed body guard or something?

The glowering Scott marched up to him with his arms crossed across his chest and an eyebrow missing, his face covered in bruises and cuts.

Well shit, it turned out Draco knew the Gryffindors more than he thought he did...

**0ooo0**

Seamus cracked open the window, -Godric it reeked of Death Eater!- and glared at the Slytherin sitting next to him.

"Ya know, Malfoy," he said, "I can't say I've enjoyed the past six hours, especially not while sitting next to a Death Eater!"

Malfoy sneered at him, "Quit bitching Finnigain, I haven't exactly been having a fucking ball either!"

Seamus made a rude hand gesture, and turned back to look out the window. He wasn't sure what Harry's plan was, but he was sure it was brilliant. Harry had never let them down before, not even during fifth year when everyone was against him. Even Seamus himself had thought Harry was a fraud! Now look where Seamus was, doing every thing he could to make up for it. Seamus was going to stick with Harry until the very end, when all the Death Eaters had been gotten rid of.

**0ooo0**

Hermione rotated her ankle in an attempt to keep her foot and right butt cheek from falling asleep. Doing so nearly made her fall into the aisle, as Padma was taking up most of the seat and Hermione's right side dangled into the aisle. She swayed a bit and bumped into Malfoy who was sitting in the seat across the aisle with Seamus.

Malfoy turned to her, and Hermione braced herself for the inevitable name calling and sneering, but it never came. Instead he just averted his eyes from her and flinched away.

Hermione frowned, what had that been about? Then turned back to Padma, who was talking her ear off about something or other.

"I've never been camping before, have you, Hermione?" Padma asked.

Hermione shook her head, and Padma said, "It sounds rather dreadful, I remember Lavender always said-"

Padma stopped suddenly and they both froze up. _Lavender. _

Hermione still felt sick to her stomach whenever she heard Lavender's name. Hermione was ashamed that she had disliked the girl for so long, especially now that Lavender had been killed by Fenrir Greyback. She felt sick to her stomach whenever she thought about how Lavender had looked during the battle. Pale with blue lips and blood smeared along her neck and jawline.

Hermione shuddered and turned to look at the teary Padma.

"It's okay, Padma," she said, putting a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, "We have the rest of our lives to look forward to, so let's put the war behind us, finally."

Padma nodded, and un-paused the conversation as though Lavender had never even been mentioned.

**0ooo0**

The bus pulled to a stop and Draco fairly launched himself out of his seat next to Finnigain. There was only so much Gryffindor he could take!

He shuffled down the aisle behind the others and bounded down the steps and out the door, eager to get off of the hot and muggy yellow turd. He looked around the camp site, interestedly.

A clear azure blue lake sparkled appealingly in the background, it was lined with a few feet of small white pebbles, then a couple yards of yellow sand. The neon green grass shot up abruptly, forming a perfect line around the ring of sand. Purple wild flowers and heather dotted the grass, and red dirt trails meandered into the thick Forest of Dean before them.

"Move it, Malfoy."

Draco turned around suddenly and saw a scowling Ernie Macmillan standing behind him, flanked on either side by Justin Flintch-Fletchy and Hannah Abbott. Draco nodded and moved to the side, so the suspicious Hufflepuffs could get by him.

"Alright," McGonagall said, bustling past them all so she could stand in the center of the clearing. "I would like for the Hufflepuffs to come forward, and draw one name each out of this hat," she waved her wand and a hat appeared. "The person whose name you draw will be your partner."

The Hufflepuffs exchanged confused glances at their Headmistress's vague explanation, but did as she bid them to and drew names out of the hat.

The pairs went to stand off to the side together, and the Ravenclaws stepped forward. After the Ravenclaws did the same, it was the Gryffindors' turn, and finally the Slytherins.

Draco stepped forward and fished around inside the hat for a name. His fingers closed around a piece of parchment, and he withdrew it to read the name of his partner.

_Blaise Zabini_

Well whoop-dee-fucking-doo! He was partnered with another "changed" Slytherin! He was sure they'd be the best of friends for the next five weeks!

Draco's inner voice was dripping in bitter sarcasm, of course.

He went to stand next to a smirking Zabini, and waited for McGonagall to tell them what the Salazar was going on.

"Now that you all have your partners, I would like for one person from each Slytherin pair to withdraw the name of a Hufflepuff pair, and one personae from each Grtffindor pair to withdraw the name of a Ravenclaw pair."

Draco and Zabini exchanged eye rolls- they could see where this was headed- and Zabini went to pick a piece of parchment.

"Which Puff duo did we get?" Draco asked, once Zabini had come back.

"Abbott and Pocklington," Zabini replied, showing Draco the slip of parchment.

"Ah Pocklington," Draco said evilly, "Can't wait to meet the bastard again!"

"What are you talking about," Zabini asked suspiciously.

Draco shook his head, indicating that he wasn't going to enlighten Zabini. He smiled maniacally, remembering the incident involving the Puff back in fifth year.

Draco had walked into the Quidditch changing room late one night, to find Pocklington snogging the living daylights out of Heidi Mackavoy. Not only was Pocklington sullying the changing room with these disgusting activities, but Pocklington also happened to have a girlfriend at the time. One who wasn't Heidi Mackavoy.

The two Hufflepuffs walked over, neither of them looking to happy to be teamed up with Draco and Zabini. Over their shoulders, Draco could see Fintch-Fletchy and Macmillan staring anxiously at Abbott. They were both obviously worried for her. Draco was tempted to snigger at the ridiculous notion that he would harm her, but managed to suppress them. He didn't want people to think he was crazy on top of evil.

"Now will the Hufflepuffs withdraw the name of a Ravenclaw pair?"

Abbott went to get the parchment this time, and she returned with two names: Latisha Randle and Luna Lovegood.

Zabini smirked when he saw Lovegood's name and whispered, "Looney Lovegood!" to Draco.

The smiles fell from both of their faces when they saw the Gryffindor pair walking up to them with Lovegood and Randle. Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom made their way over, and neither of them looked happy about it.

The two Slytherins and the two Gryffindors pointedly ignored each other, as no one wanted a fight to break out on the first day of their hell on Earth- err, _school camping trip._

"Now that you're all teamed up," McGongall said, "I believe you can guess what these arrangements are for." She snapped her fingers, and four tents materialized in the clearing behind her. "You are all looking at your tent mates for the next five weeks! I will hear no complaining and no buts! Boys will sleep in one room, girls will sleep in the other. Now go, unpack!"

There was much grumbling, but eventually everyone made their way into their assigned tents.

Draco sighed, the next five weeks were going to be a fiasco!

If only he'd known.


	3. and Alliances Future

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 3: **and Alliances Future  
**A/N: Once again, thank you all so much for your kind reviews and support! I'll do my best to live up to your expectations. Before I start this chapter, I would like to ask you all to check out my newest fanfic; Skyfall. It's a James Bond esque dramione, I really hope you all go read it!**

Hermione pulled back the flap of the tent she was assigned to, and thanked Merlin that it didn't reek of moth balls like the last tent she had stayed in did. She stopped dead in her tracks, and looked at the inside in shock. Merlin wasn't getting any thank you from her anymore.

The tent was as non-magical as it could possibly get.

All it was, was an open room made of tarp with a mesh skylight in the ceiling.

Hermione felt a sharp prodding in her back, and stumbled forward a bit. Then she turned and glared at Blaise Zabini who stepped into the tent after her.

"Bloody hell," Zabini said, "Is this what muggles have to deal with whenever they go camping?"

Zabini looked at Hermione expectantly.

"Yes," Hermione said, surprised that the Slytherin had asked her a question, "Although I haven't been camping the muggle way in ages."

"How did you deal with it?" Zabini asked incredulously.

Hermione was still shocked that he had willingly started a conversation with her, but replied anyway. "I don't really remember all that well," she admitted, "I do know that I didn't enjoy it very much though."

"I can see why," Zabini said, stepping further into the tent, "I can't believe we have to spend five weeks sleeping in here."

"Do you two mind?" asked Malfoy, as he came into the tent, "Bloody Salazar! What kind of tent is this?"

"The muggle kind," Hermione snapped, plopping her sleeping bag and back pack in the far right corner.

Malfoy looked around in shock, "But... There's only one room, are we going to have to sleep in the same room as the girls?"

The others all filed into the tent and looked around with the same expression on their faces as Zabini, Hermione and Malfoy had.

Zabini snorted, "What Drake? I thought you were supposed to be the Slytherin Panty-Snatching King!"

Malfoy glared at Zabini. "I'll have you know, Zabini," he said, "That the only time I have ever seen a girl in her lingerie, was that one time Pansy ran into our dorm over Easter break and flashed us all!"

Zabini snorted, "Whatever you say, Drakey-poo."

"It's Draco!"

Luna set her things next to Hermione, and began unrolling her sleeping bag, and spraying something on her pillow.

"What is that?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Radish juice," Luna replied before returning her attention to the pillow.

"Err, why are you spraying it on there?"

"Nargles hate how radishes smell, and the Forest of Dean is swarming with them," Luna said matter-of-factly, "I wouldn't want any to get on my pillow."

"No," Hermione said, "No that probably wouldn't be a good thing."

**0ooo0**

"So," Zabini said, "Where are we going to spread our sleeping bags, Drake?"

"It's Draco!"

"Draco," Zabini rolled his eyes, "Are you happy now?"

"Not really!"

Zabini turned and looked around the tent, "Looks like the girls have set up shop in the back of the tent, so I guess us blokes will have to sleep close to the tent flap."

Draco rolled his eyes as Longbottom and Pocklington both rolled out their sleeping bags as far away from the two Slytherins as they could. Zabini unrolled his next to Pocklington's, leaving only one space for Draco on Zabini's other side. The space next to Granger's sleeping bag.

"Zabini," Draco muttered, "Switch places with me."

Zabini stared at Draco with a confused look on his face. "Why," he asked.

"I may not believe in all that blood prejudice stuff anymore," Draco said, "But I still don't think it's such a good idea for me to sleep next to the muggleborn one third of the golden trio."

Zabini snickered and rolled his eyes. "I'll make a deal for you Draco."

Draco cursed himself internally for responding to his deranged house-mate. "What's the deal?" he asked curiously.

"You have to enter into the alliance with me and Theo, _and _you have to call me Blaise for an entire week."

Draco stared at Zabini in disbelief. "You're insane," Draco said, "I'm not entering into your gay little 'alliance' with Nott."

Zabini gazed back at Draco with a cool and calculating look on his lightly tanned face. "Fine then," Zabini said, "You can spend eight hours a day, for _five weeks_, sleeping next to Hermione Granger. And every morning the first thing you'll see is her face. And, when the other Slytherins finally find out you aren't blood prejudiced anymore, you can deal with them alone and friendless, and endure all the teasing from Dumbledore's Army _alone. _

Draco sighed while he mulled things over in his head.

Maybe- oh Salazar he couldn't believe he was thinking this- maybe being friends with Nott and Zabini wouldn't be such a bad thing. True, he had always found Zabini to be slightly annoying. The brooding, cocky, playboy role was supposed to be taken by Draco. But after sixth year, after he had endured the pain and stress of trying to be a Death Eater, Draco had matured. Quidditch, his reputation, popularity, picking on Granger and the Golden Trio, it didn't matter all that much anymore. Draco had started to question whether or not being a Death Eater was worth it all. Because honestly, he was beginning to wonder what the problem was with muggle borns. They really weren't that different than he was.

And here in front of him was a person who was an equal. Another Slytherin who was going against everything that had been engrained into his head since he was born. And this man was offering him brotherhood, protection, true friendship. Things Draco had never truly experienced before.

And Draco found that it didn't matter if his new alliance would be with the cynical Blaise Zabini and the roguish Theodore Nott. The only thing that mattered was that he might finally get a chance at the true sense of fellowship that had been denied him for so long.

"All right, Blaise," Draco said, "You've got a deal."

Blaise's jaw fell open, and Draco was momentarily amused that he had finally broken the other Slytherin's cockiness.

"I'll be friends with you and Theo, and the three of us will take on the blood prejudiced crazies in Slytherin together."

Draco held out his hand, and Zabini beamed while he clasped Draco's hand with his own.

"Deal," Zabini said happily, "I guess it's us against the world from here on out."

The two Slytherins hadn't noticed Hermione Granger had over heard their entire conversation...


	4. Bloody Palms and Changing View Points

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 4: **Bloody Palms and Changing View Points  
**A/N: Sorry if you found the last chapter to be rather short, I thought it would be best to end the chapter there. Once again, please check out Sky Fall! I'm really excited about it, and I want to hear your thoughts on it! Thanks again for all of your positive reviews!**

_"I'll be friends with you and Theo, and the three of us will take on the blood prejudiced crazies in Slytherin together." _

_Draco held out his hand, and Zabini beamed while he clasped Draco's hand with his own._

_"Deal," Zabini said happily, "I guess it's us against the world from here on out." _

_The two Slytherins hadn't noticed Hermione Granger had over heard their entire conversation..._

Hermione stared at the two ignorant Slytherins in shock, she felt bile rise up in the back of her throat. Her blood boiled, and she felt as though the walls of the tent were closing in on her. She couldn't breathe, she had to get out of there.

She stood up and vaulted herself out of the tent.

"Hermione," Luna asked in a surprised tone of voice, "Where are you going?"

"I just need to get some air," Hermione said without looking back.

Luna shrugged, after all, her attention span was only so large. "Okay then," she said, "But watch out for the nargles."

Hermione inhaled sharply through her nose, and clenched her teeth together, "Fine Luna, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Hermione walked out of the tent, shoving the entrance flap aside roughly, and took deep, ragged breaths of the fresh air.

She shook her head, and collapsed at the base of one of the rowan trees circling the campsite, she slid up into a sitting position.

Hermione was completely and utterly disgusted.

It was ridiculous how hypocritical Malfoy was. Hermione had been forced to endure six years- _six bloody years_- of Malfoy's and the rest of Slytherin's constant harassment about her blood status. She'd endured name calling, tripping, sabotage and judgement. And Ron, Rona had been called a blood traitor, had been looked down on for being friends with her.

And now Malfoy- and apparently Zabini and Nott- had given up all of his blood prejudices?

Hermione was torn between not buying that dragon shit for one minute, and being disgusted with Malfoy's hypocrisy.

But- Hermione had to admit that it was possible Malfoy actually had changed. Now that she looked back on it, Hermione realized that Malfoy hadn't called her a mudblood since they had been dragged on this stupid camping trip. And when she looked further back, she realized he hadn't called her a mudblood since before that. Not when Crabbe and Goyle had tried to kill her in the Room of Requirement, not when she was being tortured by Bellatrix, and not even during sixth year.

So maybe- oh Godric she couldn't believe she was saying this- maybe Malfoy had let go of his prejudices.

But why? How? How on Earth could Malfoy deny everything that had been taught to him since he was a kid so easily? What had prompted Malfoy to do this?

He was such a hypocrite!

Hermione's hands curled into fists, and her fingernails dug into her palms. She hissed as the scratches began to bleed. She was absolutely disgusted.

**0ooo0**

Draco and Blaise turned to look in confusion as Granger stomped out of the tent.

"What crawled into her pumpkin juice and died?" Blaise asked.

"Dunno," Draco shrugged, and then he perked his head up. "You don't think she- heard us, do you?"

Blaise and Draco stared at each other for a few seconds, then both of them pushed themselves up and followed Granger out of the tent.

"If she heard us," Blaise shook his head, "It might be bad."

Draco stopped and turned to look at Blaise, "Might be? It definitely would be. She'd go off and blab to Weasel and Potty. Then the rest of Dumbledore's Army would find out, and, ugh..." Draco put his forehead in his palm, "Then the other Slytherins would figure it out, oh no! We're gonna have to deal with all that harassment for the rest of the summer!"

Blaise shook his head, "I don't know, Draco. If this were Weasley or Potter, then yeah, maybe, but we're talking about Granger here. She's... different. I don't think she would go out and blab to everyone, and the look on her face? I don't think that was the look of someone about to ruin the reputations of three of her worst enemies. She looked more like she was... disgusted, or something like that."

Draco chewed on his bottom lip as he mulled it over.

Yes, Granger was so much more different than Weasel and Potty. In all the years of Draco harassing her, she had almost always remained calm and collected. Not like her friends, whenever Draco would so much as mention blood, they would immediately begin yelling insults and profanities at him.

The angriest Draco had ever seen Granger, was the time she had punched him.

Draco didn't think Granger was the type of person to seek revenge, even if she had the perfect opportunity.

"Yeah," Draco said slowly, "I guess you're right, Blaise."

Blaise nodded and looked around the campsite. "Now where is she," he said, "I think we should talk to her."

Draco stared at Blaise in surprise. "Why," he asked.

"Because," Blaise said, "We need to explain everything to her. She deserves an explanation. After all we put her through? She deserves an explanation from us."

Draco glared at the ground and stomped his foot a bit, almost like he was a toddler being forced to eat broccoli.

"Fine," he simpered out, "Let's go tell her."

**0ooo0**

Hermione breathed in and out slowly. She relaxed a bit as she stared out at the lake. It turned out those meditation classes she and her mum had attended back in Australia really were paying off.

She was a lot more calm now. True, she still felt like puking every time she even thought of Malfoy, but at least she wasn't making her palms bleed any more.

Hermione figured that so long as she steered clear of the Slytherins, she could make it through the next five weeks.

She sighed and leant back against the rowan tree.

"Hey," someone said from behind her, "Can we talk to you for a minute?"

Hermione whipped her head around, and immediately felt her entire body tense up.

It was Malfoy and Zabini


	5. Underneath the Rowan Tree

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 5: **Under the Rowan Tree  
**A/N: Please review, and go check out Sky Fall!**

_"Hey," someone said from behind her, "Can we talk to you for a minute?"_

_Hermione whipped her head around, and immediately felt her entire body tense up. _

_It was Malfoy and Zabini._

Hermione swallowed hard, and stared at the two Slytherins. Malfoy shifted nervously, Hermione would have found it funny if she weren't so disgusted. Zabini stared right back at her with a calm look in his eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked, turning back around to gaze out at the lake.

She felt the grass brush up against her thigh as Zabini sat down next to her, Malfoy leaned up against the other side of the tree. Hermione supposed that she should feel unsafe surrounded by Slytherins when she had no magic, but she felt oddly secure.

"So," Zabini said casually, falling backwards and propping himself up with his elbows, "How much of our conversation did you hear?"

Hermione considered playing dumb for a moment, but quickly shoved the notion aside. "Enough to know that you both believe that everything you've lorded over me for the past seven years is a lie."

Zabini looked at her with confusion in his eyes. "But shouldn't that make you happy," he asked, "I mean, aren't you glad that we don't think you're beneath us anymore?"

Hermione took a deep shaky breath of the mountain air before replying, "Glad? I'm disgusted Zabini, disgusted that you, Nott and Malfoy are such bloody hypocrites!"

The two Slytherins flinched, but she payed them no mind, she was on a roll. Hermione hopped up from the ground.

"How would you feel if you discovered that three of the people who treated you like dirt for seven years, suddenly said, 'oh sorry, guess we were wrong, just forget everything we've said?' How would that make you feel?"

She started pacing back and forth, if Harry and Ron had been in Malfoy and Zabini's place they would have realized just how pissed off she was, simply by looking at the pacing.

"Do you know what you made my life like?" She continued, her voice getting higher and higher in pitch. "I woke up every day knowing that you and hundreds of others like you thought that I was the lowliest of the low simply because of my parentage!

"If it weren't for Harry and Ron I have no idea where I would be right now, I probably would have committed suicide by now!

"And Ron! You two teased him for years because he wouldn't _spit _at me like you did! And now you're telling me that you have become the very thing you hated him for? Save me that dragon shit! You two are such fucking hypocrites!

"And yes, I should be happy that you've changed. I should be, I really fucking should be! But you know what? I can't forgive you for what you've done! Not until you've fucking _done something _to earn that bloody forgiveness!

"Both of you have had plenty of opportunities as well!

"Zabini you could have said something whenever you saw Neville getting the shit beat out of him last year! He told me! He fucking told me what you did! He told me what you did last year to those first years!"

Hermione saw Zabini pale but she rounded on Malfoy, not even pausing for breath.

"And you! You picked on me relentlessly! Every time I started to get into some type of groove you were right there to knock me off my feet!

"You're the worst out of all of them, because you just stood there and did nothing! NOTHING!

"You did nothing while I was tortured! You tried to kill me in the Room of Requirement! And worst of all, after we saved your ungrateful arse from the fiend fire, you turned around and betrayed us!

"You still told that Death Eater you were on his side to save yourself! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

She stopped, gasping for breath, and watched Malfoy and Zabini's stunned faces stare at her in shock, and- was that, guilt?

To her surprise, it was Malfoy that finally said something.

"Look Granger," he said slowly, "I know that you won't forgive me with just words, but I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry."

**0ooo0 **

Granger laughed bitterly, and Draco let go of the tiny shred of hope he had been holding onto.

Of course she didn't forgive him. Words were just words after all.

"What can we do to make it up to you?" Blaise asked desperately.

Granger stared at him in disbelief. "Is the Blaise Zabini seriously begging me to forgive him?" she asked incredulously.

Draco was a little shocked to.

Throughout all seven years of Hogwarts, Draco had never once seen or heard Blaise ask for anything. No matter what came the other boy's way, he met it with coolness and calm, and his expression always stayed the same. But apparently that had all been a facade, as Blaise was certainly begging for something now.

"Granger," Blaise said truthfully, "All I want is to forget the past. I'm full of regret for everything I've done in the past, I never want to be in a situation where I'm forced to watch eleven year olds beg me to kill them, ever again. Whatever it is you heard from Longbottom is probably the truth. I will always regret what I did, and I know I'm going to rot in hell for it, but I can't change the past.

"There is one thing I can do to redeem myself though.

"If you will please, please, just give me one more chance, I swear on Salazar's grave that I will prove to you that I've changed for the better."

Blaise nudged Draco in the shin, and Draco realized he would have to apologize as well.

He sighed. "Alright," he said, "I know that I've been a right ass hole to you for seven years, but I just want to change. I hate myself for all I've done to you and the people you love, and I wouldn't blame you if you never forgave me.

"And even though I've wasted the past two chances you've given me, I'd die before I wasted this one. I want to be a better person, but to do that I need you to forgive me so I can finally put this entire war behind me.

"I want peace just as much as you do."

There was silence for several long minutes. The three of them stared out over the lake with each other, the two Slytherins waiting anxiously to hear the verdict, and the one Gryffindor arguing with herself.

The first colors of sunset were painting the sky when Granger finally looked at Draco and Blaise again.

"Fine," she said, "I believe people can change for the better. Let's give this one last try, but I'm warning you, this is you're last chance."

Draco looked deep in her eyes and didn't see any anger, just exhaustion, hope and a broken heart.

Blaise stuck out his hand, "Whaddya say you two?" he said, "Ready to take on tomorrow?"

Draco looked at the olive colored hand and reminded himself that this was his last chance to back out and be the coward he used to be.

But there must have been some Gryffindor traits in him, because he placed his own hand on top of Blaise's.

Granger looked at them one last time, before adding her small hand to the pile. "Let's do this," she said.

They looked each other in the eyes, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

And that's where the war truly ended, under the rowan tree in the Forest of Dean, when two Slytherins and a Gryffindor finally learned how to forgive and forget.

But though this is the ending of one war, it is most definitely not the ending of this story.

In fact, it's just barely the beginning.


	6. Patronuses, Partners and Floppy Toast

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 6: **Patronuses, Partners and Floppy Toast  
**A/N: I own a copy of all the Harry Potter books and movies, but sadly, do not own the franchise. Please review!**

_They looked eachother in the eyes, and nodded almost imperceptibly._

_And that's where the war truly ended, under the rowan tree in the Forest of Dean, when two Slytherins and a Gryffindor finally learned how to forgive and forget._

_But though this is the ending of one war, it is most definitley not the ending of this story._

_Infact, it's just barely the beginning. _

Draco stared at the tent's cieling glumly as he waited for sleep to claim to him. In the sleeping bag next to him, Blaise- the lucky bastard- was sound asleep, breathing rythmically through his mouth.

Draco had no idea how Granger was faring on his other side, he didn't hear her thrashing around like he was, so he supposed she was either sleeping or dead.

He let loose a low groan that couldn't be heard over Longbottom's snores. Draco checked his watch.

2:46 am.

For Salazar's sake! When would his sub-concious shut the hell up and let him go to bed?

Frusturated, Draco rolled over onto his left side, and inhaled sharply when he saw what was now infront of him.

Granger's sleeping face was only about a foot away from Draco's. He stared at her for a few minutes, drinking in her appearance.

Her chaotic chocolate brown curls were loose and fanned out across her pillow. One pj-clad leg was thrown over the sleeping bag. Her left arm was tossed over her head with the hand fisted, and her right arm wrapped around her chest. Her long eyelashes brushed up against her cheekbones and cast shadows across her creamy skin.

Granger slept the same way she lived; placing comfort over proprioty.

Draco squinted as he tried to decipher the logo splashed across the chest of Granger's t-shirt.

The Beatles. Draco dimly remembered hearing the name somewhere, he supposed they must be some type of muggle thing.

Finally, exauhstion over came him, and he fell asleep.

**0ooo0**

A silvery cat trotted through the morning sky aand came to a stop above one of the four tents in the clearing. The tabby made its way down to the ground and through the flap.

It looked around at the eight sleepign teenagers, sniffing the air, it wondered idly why the tent smelled like radishes.

The sounds of movement reached the patronus's ears, and it turned to see one of the girls thrashing around in her bed. She came very close to smacking the blonde boy lying next to her.

"The snake returns," she whispered uneasily. "The cunning one rises!"

The cat would have frowned if it could have, but changed its mind and decided it would have shrugged instead.

The patronus's job was to wake the students, not puzzle over what one of them said in its sleep.

It opened its mouth and its conjurer's voice came out, "Wake up students! Breakfast is in the pavilion, I expect you all to be there in five minutes. There is no need to change out of your pajamas, but I do reccomend a jacket."

**0ooo0**

Hermione peeled her eyes open in time to see Headmistress McGonagal's patronus poof into non-existence.

She sat up in her sleeping bag and blinked the sleep out of her bleary eyes. She remembered that she'd had a dream, a strange dream that had something to do with a snake.

Hermione knew that it was important she remembered what the dream was, but for the life of her she just couldn't do it.

It was like trying to hold onto water. Everytime you thought you had it, details trickled through the cracks in your fingers until you were left with almost nothing.

Frusturated, Hermione shimmied out of the sweaty cocoon and shivered when the chilly air hit her. She slid her feet into some trainers and pulled a grey sweater over her t-shirt.

"What time is it?" a bed-headed Zabini mumbled from his sleeping bag.

Hermione went to check her watch, but remembered that she had lost it to the Snatchers while on the run that spring.

"Sorry," she said, "I lost my watch while I was on the run."

Zabini nodded, then turned to look at the stil-abed Malfoy. Malfoy was lying with his face on the pillow and butt in the air. How he was able to sleep like that, Hermione would never know.

"Draco," Zabini said, kicking Malfoy in the arse, "Draco, get up."

"I'm tired," Draco groaned, "Can't we just die?"

"No we can't just die," Zabini admonished, delivering another swift kick to Malfoy's buttocks. "We've got to stay alive so we can prove to everyone that we've changed."

After a few more grumbles, Malfoy was finally standing up and glaring at Zabini.

Zabini smirked at the other boy, "Now that you're awake, would you mind too terribly telling me the time?"

Malfoy quickly glanced down at his watch. "9:28," he said.

"Good morning Hermione," Neville greeted, appearing at Hermione's shoulder.

"Morning Neville," she replied. "Did you sleep well?"

He grimaced and shook his head.

She smiled kindly and reassured him, "Don't worry, the first night camping is always hard to sleep through, but your body should be used to it by now, so you'll sleep fine tonight."

Neville grinned back at her. "Thanks Hermione, let's head down to breakfast."

Hermione nodded at Malfoy and Zabini and headed outside after Neville.

**0ooo0**

Draco yawned and smacked his lips as he glanced around the pavilion. Although the proffesors were fully clothed, the students looked like they were at some type of demented slumber party.

Now that he thought about it, they kind of were.

Draco poked his piece of floppy toast with a fork. There was something about seeing Cho Chang in a slip and Potty in flannells that really took away his appetite.

He shoved his aluminum plate away as McGonagal stood up from her seat.

Draco elbowed Blaise in the stomach just as he was biting into a strawberry, causing the other Slytherin to almost choke.

"What was that for?" Blaise spluttered in a hoarse voice.

Draco nodded towards their stoic Headmistress, who was glaring at them sternly, waiting for complete silence.

"Students," she said, "I trust you slept well."

Draco let out a snort, immediatley followed by a jaw-cracking yawn.

"If you don't mind too terribly, I would like to lay down a few rules," McGonagal continued.

"First of all, I would like to make it perfectly clear that the following words are not allowed; mudblood, Death Eater, and blood traitor.

"Secondly, there is to be no violence what so ever on this trip."

Draco was tempted to laugh when she glared at Goyle, Pucey, and Weasle.

"You are required to follow whatever directions Hagrid, Proffesor Sprout, Proffesor Flittwick, Proffesor Slughorn, or I give you.

"Although boys and girls are sleeping in the same tents, you are not to engage in any sort of... activities, together. I am sure that some of you have allready noticed the enchantments placed on your tents."

Draco and Blaise shared a smirk, both of them remembering the electric shock Pocklington had recieved when he had walked in on Abbott changing into her pjs.

"Last, but most important, is that you never wander about by yourselves after dark. Much like the Forbidden Forest, the Forest of Dean is full of dangerous creatures, both magical and non-magical. Always stay together."

She gazed out sternly over their heads judging the students' reactions. For the most part, everyone just looked sleepy.

While McGonagal was thus engaged, Draco took the opportunity to ask Blaise a question that had been burning in the back of his mind since the day before.

He elbowed Blaise in the arm again, this time causing a strip of bacon to fly through the air and slap Tracey Davis in the neck.

Blaise scowled at Draco, "Are you going to make a habit of this?"

Draco checked to see if McGonagal was still distracted and whispered, "Hey Blaise, what was Granger talking about yesterday?"

Blaise paled a little bit and answered back innocently, "Whatever do you mean Draco?"

"You know what I mean Blaise," Draco scoffed. "That thing about first years, and Longbottom?"

Blaise paled even more and shook his head, signaling that he wouldn't be giving out answers anytime soon.

Draco decided to let the topic die, he'd have plenty of time to pester Blaise about it later.

They returned their attention to the Headmistress, who had resumed her monologing a few moments before.

"-together, will build up a sense of trust, teamwork, and good spirit! Proffesor Flittwick has taken the liberty of dividing you into groups of six. No buts. When he calls your name please join your group members at their picnick table."

**0ooo0**

Blise sighed in relief when Draco let the subject drop. He wasn't sure he could deal with the guilt of what he'd done.

He barely paid attention to what the Headmistress was saying. All Blaise heard was something about groups of six and picnic tables.

He only really paid attention when he heard his own name.

"Blaise Zabini."

Blaise didn't even bother getting up from the table. Let his team mates come to him.

"Draco Malfoy."

He and Draco triumphantly high fived eachother.

"Theodore Nott."

Theo swaggered over to them with his hands in his pockets, and plopped down across from them. They nodded to eachother as way of greeting.

"Hermione Granger."

Blaise smirked a bit and took a sip of pumpkin juice. Granger was actually okay, she seemed pretty cool to be honest. Granger gingerly made her way over and perched on the edge of their bench.

"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley."

The pumpking juice was spat out and dripped down Blaise's chin as he stared at Weasel and Potty in shock.

Shit.

**A/N: Anyone who catches the A Very Potter Musical reference will get a one-worded sneak peek at the next chapter! **


	7. Damp Wood

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 7: Damp Wood  
A/N: As always, thanks for the reviews! Also, I'm looking for someone who would be willing to beta this for me. If you're interested, please let me know!**

_"Hermione Granger."_

_Blaise smirked a bit and took a sip of pumpkin juice. Granger was actually okay, she seemed pretty cool to be honest. Granger gingerly made her way over and perched on the edge of their bench. _

_"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley."_

_The pumpkin juice was spat out and dripped down Blaise's chin as he stared at Weasel and Potty in shock._

_Shit. _

The simple fact that the professors expected them to walk around in swimsuits, never mind that they were supposed to complete an obstacle course in the pouring down rain, was ridiculously absurd.

Hermione sighed and pulled her chaotic brown curls into a ponytail. She whirled around when she heard the door to the bath house burst open, but relaxed when she saw Ginny's familiar head of red hair.

"Hey Ginny," she said, pulling a t-shirt on over her bikini.

Ginny smiled and slipped into a stall. "Hi Hermione," she said from the other side of the door, "How was your night, were the Slytherins too terrible?"

Hermione paused her primping for a moment and stared at herself in the mirror before replying. "Actually Ginny," she said cautiously, "They weren't terrible at all."

The door squeaked as Ginny emerged in a bright green swim suit. "Really?" she asked incredulously, tying her hair up in a bun.

"Really," Hermione affirmed. "In fact, they're actually pretty nice blokes, when they're not shouting names at me that is."

Ginny turned to look at Hermione, a dangerous glimmer in her eyes. "Did they shout names at you?" she asked tensely.

Hermione shook her head. "No, and trust me, they had plenty of opportunities to," Hermione leaned in conspiratorially after checking to make sure they were alone. "Alright Ginny, promise you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Ginny nodded and listened anxiously for the secret. It was very rare for Hermione to participate in any form of gossip.

Hermione bit her lip and whispered, "As it turns out, Malfoy and Zabini aren't the blood prejudiced gits we know and hate anymore. Apparently, they've changed."

Ginny snorted and slipped on a pair of shorts. "I'll believe that when I see it."

Hermione shrugged and the two girls walked outside. The rain had stopped, but it was still considerably cloudy. "I can't blame you," she said, as they walked back to the pavilion where everyone was gathering. "But it is the truth. They've changed Ginny, they're actually not that bad. In fact, Zabini is pretty nice, when he puts his mind to it."

Ginny yanked a damp twig off of a tree and twirled the end of it around in the air. "If you say so," her delicate nose wrinkled at the thought. "What about Malfoy?"

Hermione followed the twig's pattern through the air as she spoke. "He's alright, I guess. I think he might be a little reserved around me right now. He's probably not very comfortable around muggle borns quite yet."

Ginny slid her fingers up and down the damp bark of the stick. "That's understandable, not to mention that he's spent the better part of the last six years hating you."

The two girls reached the nearly empty gazebo and took a seat at one of the picnic tables.

"How are things with you and Harry?" Hermione asked her.

"They aren't," Ginny responded. "I thought after the whole bloody war was over he'd finally ask me out again, but he hasn't," she scowled and fiddled with the tip of her twig. "I wish I knew what his problem was! I'm starting to think that the whole 'breaking up with me for my own safety' thing was just an excuse," she punctuated her last statement by snapping the stick in two.

Ginny threw the two pieces of wood as far away as she could and sighed as she watched the ripples they made on the lake. "I just... I just want to know if he still loves me as much as I love him."

Hermione's heart broke as she watched a tear trace down Ginny's freckled cheek, and she immediately reached out and pulled her friend into a hug.

"He still loves you Gin," she reassured, stroking Ginny's hair. "Every night while we were on the run he watched the Marauder's Map and made sure that you were okay. He's probably just scared."

Ginny nodded and straightened up, laughing a bit as she wiped at her eyes. "You're probably right Hermione. I guess I'm just paranoid, with Cho Chang on this trip and all..."

Hermione snorted as Harry and Ron walked into the pavilion. "She doesn't hold a candle to you Gin."

"Who doesn't?" Harry asked, sliding onto the bench next to Hermione.

"Nobody!" The girls chirped.

Ron rolled his eyes as he sat down on Hermione's other side.

Hermione looked at him out of the corner of her eye, slight twinges of worry bubbling in her stomach. Ron wasn't acting like himself lately, he wasn't eating as much, nor was he whipping out his biting sarcasm as much as he used to. In fact, Ron seemed... Quiet, uncharacteristically quiet.

It was troubling to be sure.

"Wotcher," Ron muttered under his breath, cocking his head in the general direction of the tents, "Our team has arrived."

Hermione and Harry turned to see the entrance of Zabini, Nott, and Malfoy. Ginny winked in Hermione's direction and got up from the table. "Well, I'll leave you three to it then," she started to make her way over to Neville and Luna, "Have fun!"

The Golden Trio eyed the three Slytherins cautiously as they took their seats on the bench across from the others.

Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly and shot a pointed glance at Zabini, silently begging him to say something, _anything_, to break the tense silence they had slipped into.

Zabini smirked at her and winked, letting her know that he was on it.

"So," he drawled, tracing the grains on the wooden table with his fingernail, "Do you guys know what it is McGonagal paired us up for? Draco and I weren't exactly paying attention."

Harry and Ron exchanged stunned looks at each other. Ron turned and stared into Hermione's eyes incredulously, the question burning in his gaze, to which Hermione replied with a shrug. She elbowed Harry in the gut, and after rubbing his stomach and glaring at her, he turned to Zabini.

"Uh," he said, shooting another glare at Hermione, "Apparently we'll be doing an obstacle course today, after we go hiking."

Malfoy frowned and the other two boys both blinked hard, their eyes wide. Hermione couldn't hold back her laughter at their confusion, Harry and Ron joined in. And in a few moments the Gryffindors were in a full-fledged laughing fit, much to the Slytherin's discomfort.

"What?" Malfoy demanded, once Hermione had caught her breath.

Hermione wiped a tear from her eye. "Y-You don't know what an obstacle course is, do you?"

Malfoy shifted uncomfortably on his bench. "Well," he said, cracking his knuckles, "No, not... Not exactly."

Hermione giggled and began to explain while the pavilion steadily became more and more crowded. The drizzle let up even more to the point where it hd completely stopped and the clouds were starting to disperse. And eventually, after seeing the laughter that came with the conversation, Harry and Ron joined in.

Hermione was starting to believe, that maybe forgiveness was a universal thing.

**0ooo0**

Draco frowned as he looked out at the trail. Beside him, he could hear the rhythmic snapping sound of Velcro while Granger tightened the straps of her hiking shoes. They were standing at the trail head, waiting for Professor Sprout to come around and fill them in on the logistics of the hike.

Draco frowned again and looked back into the forest. It was damp, and the forest looked dark, even though the sun had come out. At night, it would probably be blacker than pitch. The trail looked slippery, muddy, and full of roots just waiting to curl around little Slytherin's ankles and force them to break their perfect aquiline noses.

"Let me get this straight," Draco said as Granger straightened up, "Muggles actually find this _fun_?"

Hermione smiled that cocky, knowing smile Draco was fighting his instincts not to hate, and replied with a twinkle in those bloody hazel eyes, "Some do."

"Do you?" Draco asked, arching a silvery eyebrow.

Granger grinned and shook her head, "Nope," she said, popping her dark pink lips on the p. "But my parents do, and they drag me around with them when they go hiking. So technically, I'm inclined to like it."

Draco smirked and looked at the brunette in a new light.

Once she wasn't spitting insults at him or walking around with a book glued to her nose, Hermione was pretty easy to get along with. She was forgiving- after about an hour of spitting like an infuriated kitten- and amazingly nonjudgmental. She was witty, and never afraid to answer a question. In fact, she got this happy little gleam in her eyes whenever someone did ask her a question.

Maybe- oh Salazar he was going mental- Maybe Granger was nice enough to warrant an attempt at friendship.

Maybe she was nice enough to warrant use of her first name.

Hermione.

**0ooo0**

"Uh, Professor Sprout," Theo said, pointing to a pile of felt ribbons lying in a pile on the ground, "What are those for?"

Sprout smiled and responded, "That, Mr. Nott, is the catch to this hike. You'll be partnering up and attaching yourself to your partner- and _no _Weasley, Potter, you will not be choosing your own partners."

Ron and Harry scowled and moved back to where they were before the word 'partners' had been mentioned.

Sprout cleared her throat and pulled out a roll of parchment, "Mr. Weasley and Mr. Nott, please grab a ribbon."

Weasely and Theo looked at each other nervously, but stepped forwards and grabbed the only ribbon that had no design on it.

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Zabini, you will be together."

Blaise and Potter smiled at each other- they got along surprisingly well- and grabbed the most manly of the two remaining ribbons, blue with white flowers.

"And lastly, Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy."

Draco smiled at Hermione and motioned for her to pick up the last ribbon. She grimaced at the length of red lace, but picked it up and threaded it through her fingers.

"Now," Sprout said, smiling at the new found camaraderie between the six teenagers, "I think you've already figured this out, but you'll be tying your legs together with the ribbons on the hike."

Draco grinned at Hermione and she handed him the length of lace, a grimace on her face. Draco narrowed his eyes in confusion, but bent down to tie them together. He wrapped the scratchy fabric around Hermione's delicate ankle and his own buff one, then looped it around in the type of bow he would use on his trainers. He straightened up and felt the warmth of Hermione's arm on his own.

Draco frowned at the look of dread on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, wondering if the ribbon was too tight.

Hermione breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. "I'm kind of clumsy, this is a disaster just waiting to happen."

Draco smirked and slipped his arm around her waist, then lifted her arm so it was around his shoulders. "Don't worry," he admonished, ignoring the look of shock on her face. "I won't let you fall."


	8. Mud That Isn't the Blood Kind

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 8: **Mud That Isn't the Blood Kind**  
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my biggest fan and new beta, the Redheaded Gryffindor! Thank you so much for all the support you've given me throughout this story, you rock! Also, thanks for the reviews guys! Finally, this is my first time trying my hand at comedy. Please let me know if I failed utterly.**

_Draco frowned at the look of dread on her face. _

_"What's wrong?" he asked, wondering if the ribbon was too tight. _

_Hermione breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. "I'm kind of clumsy, this is a disaster just waiting to happen." _

_Draco smirked and slipped his arm around her waist, then lifted her arm so it was around his shoulders. "Don't worry," he admonished, ignoring the look of shock on her face. "I won't let you fall."_

Draco was sorely tempted to laugh as Weasley cursed for the ten-trillionth time, having slipped on yet another patch of mud. Taking note of where the slip and slide spot was, Draco gently guided Hermione around it so the apparently clumsy Gryffindor wouldn't skid around the same way her ginger friend had.

"Alright," Blaise shouted from the head of the line, "That's it! Everybody stop! We're looking at the map, I need to see how much longer this fucking trail is!"

Theo groaned as everyone came to a stop and waited for Hermione to dig the map out of her pocket. "Blaise, this is the third time!"

Draco nodded in agreement while Hermione unfolded the piece of paper. "Can't you just shut the hell up and enjoy the scenery or something?"

Blaise frowned and stomped his foot, effectively causing Potter to stomp his foot as well. "We've been at this for hours! I think I'm entitled to a bit of whining," he said.

Potter turned to Hermione who was examining the map with a frown on her face. "How much further?" he asked.

Hermione glanced up and said, "Around a mile or two. I'd say about two more hours if we don't stop again."

"Where exactly are we headed to?" Weasley asked, walking over to Hermione and dragging Theo along with him.

Hermione frowned again and tapped a spot on the map with her short, rounded finger nail. "The waterfall, it would seem," she replied.

Draco peeked over her shoulder at the point on the paper marked "Aseesee Falls'. "Why are we headed to a waterfall?" he asked. "Why not the end of the trail?"

Hermione shrugged and started folding the map up again. "Don't ask me," she said. "I don't give the directions, I just follow Professor Sprout's."

**0ooo0**

Draco and the others all had quite a few near-death falls as they made their way down the twisting incline. He was even forced to bunny hop around roots with Hermione... Malfoys _don't _bunny hop.

"Are we there yet?" Weasley whined out for the fifteenth time. (Yes, Draco was counting.)

"No Ron," Hermione sighed, her minty breath floating upwards and slapping Draco in the nostrils.

"How much longer?" was the simpered reply.

Hermione huffed and tripped a little on a protruding root. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, if you honestly think I am about to stop in a glorified hippie minefield straight from hell to examine a map that I pulled out a mere fifteen minutes ago, you are sadly mistaken."

Draco smirked and helped her over another log.

"Sorry," Weasley said.

A few minutes of blissful silence passed before their tranquility was broken again by the other annoying prick in their group.

"Are we there yet?" Blaise asked from the end of the line.

Draco swiveled his head around to glare at him. "No."

"Are we there yet _now_?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No!"

"Now?"

"No Blaise!"

"Now?"

"Do you really think the answer would have changed after three seconds?"

"Are we there yet now?"

"Is it really so hard to shut that huge ass mouth of yours for just one more hour?"

"NOW?!"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"NO!"

"THEN HOW ABOUT NOW?!"

"DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A FUCKING WATER FALL TO YOU?!"

"WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP!?"

**0ooo0**

"Please, Merlin, oh please tell me we are almost to that damned waterfall," Hermione whispered earnestly, unable to check the map as she had thrown it at Zabini's head around a half hour ago.

The ribbon chaffed against her ankle and crumpled her sock into a pathetic cotton ring around her shoe, Ron and Zabini's incessant whining turned into a sort of buzzing sound in her ears, she kept tripping over roots and stones, and the trees were starting to look less beautiful and more repetitive. And to cap it all off, the river was rushing and beating against the bank, somewhere hidden behind the trees to her right. She could hear the bloody waterfall, but it wasn't getting any closer!

Hermione was miserable.

Malfoy turned to look at her, apparently having heard her whispered curse, and gave her a reassuring eyebrow raise. "I'd say we've only got another five or ten minutes left," he said. "I'm starting to smell the waterfall."

Hermione took a sniff and found that Malfoy was right. The familiar smell of minerals, pure water and earth lingered in the air and mixed itself in with the smell of flora, fauna, and sweaty teenagers.

"Harry," Ron said suddenly, "Doesn't this look... familiar?"

Harry paused for a moment and scratched his chin until Zabini forced him to keep walking. "Now that I think about it... Yeah, it does," Harry said. "Hermione, didn't we come here while we were on the run?"

Hermione thought back to a few months before and realized that, yes, her surroundings were rather familiar. Now that she thought about it, wasn't that tree with the bear marks and the moss the same one she had tripped over while they were running from Snatchers?

"I believe so," she said. "In fact, I think we might have been in the Forest of Dean when Ron came back to us."

Their entire party stopped and stared at her.

"Weasley came back to you," Nott repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hermione looked at Ron, wordlessly asking if he was okay with her sharing the story. He contemplated for a moment but nodded.

Hermione sighed and looked over at the three curious Slytherins. "Harry and Ron had a bit of a... row," she said. "The end result was Ron leaving us for a few weeks."

"Hold on," Harry interrupted. "You said we were in the Forest of Dean when Ron came back to us... Weren't we in the Forest of Dean after we broke into the Ministry?"

"And when we were captured by the Snatchers now that I think on it," Ron interjected.

Hermione blushed as their group started walking again. "Well," she admitted, "When Ron left I didn't want to stray too far because I wanted him to be able to find us, if and when he came back. It was stupid thinking on my part, but I didn't want to loose Ron forever."

"Ah," Harry said, as the crossed a log suspended over the river. "So that means the pool where Ron and I found the sword of Gryffindor is around here somewhere."

Hermione nodded and stepped down from the log, Malfoy offering his hand to steady her. "Yes, but I highly doubt you'll be able to find it Harry, the Forest of Dean is huge."

**0ooo0**

"Finally," Draco breathed, taking in the impressive sight that was Aseesee Falls, "Oh sweet Salazar, finally!"

He started forwards into the small creeks that crisscrossed at the foot of the water fall, eventually merging and forming the pool, but was forcibly reminded that someone was attached to him when that someone was caught off guard by his sudden movement and fell face first into the pool.

"I'm sorry Hermione," Draco proclaimed, hastily grabbing her arm and wrenching her out of the water.

Unfortunately, they were both caught off balance by his sudden movement, and Hermione fell straight back down again, only this time, Draco was brought with her.

"Sorry," Draco apologized again, pushing his face out of the water and gasping for breath.

"It's fine," Hermione said, spitting out a mouthful of water and pushing the wet hair out of her face. "Let's just get over these pools and meet up with Hagrid. I need to get out of these woods."

Draco nodded and their group set off through the pools again with renewed fervor. But with excitement comes lack of caution, and they were delayed many a time by falls into the water.

"Ow! Ron, was it necessary to grab my hair on your way down?"

"Sorry Hermione, I was just trying to find something to keep myself from falling."

"Well shit, Weasley, you managed to bring both me and Hermione down with you!"

"Shut up Malfoy. If you want someone to blame, pick on Nott, he's the one who tripped in the first place!"

"Only because scar-head kicked me in the arse when he fell!"

"It's not my fault there was a slippery piece of wood there!"

"Can we please just get to the fucking waterfall so we can head back to camp?!"

"Thanks Zabini, I'm glad someone here has at least a little sense!"

"No problem, Granger."

**0ooo0**

Hagrid watched the six teenagers with a bemused look on his face as they trudged up to him at the foot of the water fall. They all looked worse for wear.

Malfoy's white blonde hair was brown with mud, Ron was sopping wet with scratches along his arms, Zabini's smirk was replaced with a grimace, the right side of Harry's face was covered in mud and his glasses seemed to be missing. Nott's pants were soaking wet and Hermione was dripping all over the place, her hair loose and hanging in her face.

However, they had been arguing with each other, which meant McGonagal's plan hadn't yet taken full effect.

Too bad, Hagrid knew that the kids would be pissed off when they were started on the second leg of the excersize.

He stepped forward with a sigh to direct them to the second, much more challenging, part of the obstacle course.

**A/N: So, I know have a YouTube channel that will feature trailers for all of my fan fictions. I have uploaded the first trailer, which is for Divided We Fall! Here's the link: .com(slash)watch(question mark)v(equal sign)8r4FDZjTpZI  
**


	9. Slippery Rocks

**Divided We Fall  
Chapter 9: Slippery Rocks  
A/N: Sorry this took so long, I've had a lot going on lately. :) Thanks for being patient!**

_Hagrid watched the six teenagers with a bemused look on his face as they trudged up to him at the foot of the water fall. They all looked worse for wear._

_Malfoy's white blonde hair was brown with mud, Ron was sopping wet with scratches along his arms, Zabini's smirk was replaced with a grimace, the right side of Harry's face was covered in mud and his glasses seemed to be missing. Nott's pants were soaking wet and Hermione was dripping all over the place, her hair loose and hanging in her face._

_However, they had been arguing with each other, which meant McGonagal's plan hadn't yet taken full effect._

_Too bad, Hagrid knew that the kids would be pissed off when they were started on the second leg of the excersize. _

_He stepped forward with a sigh to direct them to the second, much more challenging, part of the obstacle course._

"Hold the hippogriff up Hagrid!" Weasley proclaimed, stepping forwards and swinging his arms around in the air so much he slapped Theo in the face. "How the hell do you expect us to climb up that waterfall when we're tied together?"

Hagrid frowned. "Watch yer' language Ron, an' fer' yer' information, I din't expect ye ter climb up that waterfall tied ter each other. Go ahead and take off those ropes."

Draco sighed in relief at the half giant's proclamation. He may not hate Hermione anymore, but having their ankles tied together for more than four hours was pushing the parchment. Or whatever that muggle saying was.

He pulled the scratchy ribbon off and stood up. Draco was sorely tempted to bust out laughing at the sight of Hermione, soaking wet and looking like a lion with her hair hanging in her face and dripping all over the place.

"Now," Hagrid continued, turning towards the water cascading down the slippery rocks Draco would be expected to climb. "What ye've got ter do is find a way ter get over these here rocks and ter the top of the waterfall. After ye get up there, yer gonna swim against the current, through the river, and ter where Professor Sprout is waitin' fer ye. Good luck."

"Thanks Hagrid," Potter said, already examining the rocks. "Hermione, any ideas?"

"It's quite simple Harry," Hermione said, already crossing one of the logs stretching over the foot pools, "Sometimes there isn't any other way but up."

"Huh?" Weasley said, following Hermione across the pools to the foot of the falls.

Hermione sighed and turned back to the group. "In other words, there is no complicated solution to getting to the top, we're just going to have to climb and pray to Merlin that we won't die."

Wow, Gryffindors were certainly optimistic, weren't they?

**0ooo0**

"Aw shit that's cold!" Draco screamed, hopping backwards and grabbing his toes in shock.

"Quit being such a pansy Malfoy," Potter said, standing knee deep in the pool at the foot of the water fall. "If I can kill Voldemort, you can get in the water."

Everyone sniggered at this, everyone except for Hermione, that is, who was gingerly stepping into the freezing cold water of hell and wincing.

"You okay?" Draco asked her, slipping his pinkie toe back into the water again.

Hermione nodded and stuck her other foot in.

"Hey," Draco proclaimed, turning back to the other boys who were slowly turning blue, "Why aren't you teasing Hermione about this?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Hermione's a girl, she can't help it."

Draco immediately knew that his friend had made a rather large mistake.

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she glared at Blaise. "Excuse me?"

"We're blokes," Blaise continued, "We're supposed to be stronger that girls."

Hermione growled and ripped off her shorts, leaving the muddy and wet clothing in a little pile of fabric on the bank, and then all of a sudden, she arched back on her toes and launched herself into the water, spraying all of them in the face.

When she resurfaced she smiled in the stunned Slytherins' directions and said, "You were saying?"

**0ooo0**

They climbed.

And they climbed.

And they climbed and climbed and climbed.

Then climbed some more.

And some more.

And more.

Draco wondered how far off the ground they were. It had to have been an hour of climbing right? The water pounded on their heads, their clothes stuck to the rocks and ripped, their skin was scratched, their necks sunburned, their fingers bled, and all of them almost fell to their death a few times.

He looked down.

They were only halfway there.

"GAH!"

**0ooo0**

"Finally!" Draco cried, pulling himself up onto the bank of the river. "Oh finally we're over that damned waterfall! Thank Salazar!"

He would have kissed the pebbles, but he was already dirty enough, and didn't really plan on getting any type of animal excretion in his mouth. Just in case.

"What are you so happy about Draco?" Theo huffed, plopping down onto the bank next to him. "We've still got to get through this river.

Oh yeah, that.

**0ooo0**

_Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold. Cold._

_AW SHIT THIS WATER IS COLD!_

"Problems Malfoy?" Potter asked, watching as Draco hopped around like he had a niffler in his pants and was wearing boxers made of gold.

"No, not at a-"

Before Draco could finish his sentence, his shirt got caught in the current- again- and the weight of it pulled him under the water. He emerged spluttering for breath, and finally ripped the offending article of clothing off.

"That's it, I've had enough of this!"

"Enough of what?" Blaise asked, raising a regal eye brow. "Enough of your shirt, the rapids, or just this entire trip in general?"

"ALL OF THE ABOVE!" Draco screamed, yanking Hermione out from underneath the current, again.

"I think I've had enough of this as well," she said calmly, once she had spit all of the water out.

Draco's eyes widened as she stepped on shore and began to tug at her t-shirt.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he asked her, tearing his eyes away from the sight of her undressing.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Malfoy?" she spat, ripping her shirt off.

"M-maybe you shouldn't do that, Hermione." he replied, slowly turning back and looking at her.

"Since when did you start calling me Hermione?"

But Draco didn't hear her, and he didn't notice the confused frown on her face.

He was too preoccupied with the sight of Hermione Granger in a light lavender bikini.

And the fact that she looked smoking hot in it.

**0ooo0**

"Splash!"

Hermione frowned as Malfoy fell into the water again. He had seemed rather distracted for the past hour, ever since Hermione had finally taken off that annoying shirt. That reminded her, since when had he started using her first name?

Not that it bothered her or anything, but it was just really strange to hear the word coming out of her once-enemy's mouth.

Now that she thought about it, it was a rather nice change.

Maybe she should start calling him by his first name too.

She'd have to think about it.


	10. Scraps of Lace

**Divided We Fall**  
**Chapter 10: Scraps of Lace**  
**A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update. I've been really busy lately. Anyways, enjoy and please review!**

Hermione's hair was in her eyes.

Of course, this was nothing new since Hermione's hair was always falling in her face, but she supposed that more of it than usual was there. That is to say, most of the time a few curls came loose from her ponytail or bun to hang in her eyes and tickle the tip of her nose, but it was much worse this time.

She had lost her ponytail holder somewhere in the midst of hiking tied to Malf- err, Draco, falling into the foot pools, climbing up a waterfall and wading upstream through a river. And that was a problem because... Well, because...

Oh screw it- her hair was annoying the shit out of her.

No matter how many times she pushed it out of her face or tucked it behind her ears, it stubbornly sprung right back and clung wetly to her forehead. But that certainly wasn't the only thing it clung to!

Nope, the ends of her hair snaked over her collarbone, shoulder and breasts like dark brown veins. Her curls circled her neck and head like a hot curtain in the humid forest. Hermione would be surprised if she didn't die of heat exhaustion.

"Aggh!" Hermione shouted as she fell back into the river.

She had been so distracted by her thoughts that her foot had caught in the river rocks, launching her head- first into the water.

Hermione emerged spluttering, water dripping in rivulets down her body, her hair sopping wet. Oh great, now it was heavy _and _sticky.

"Okay, no," Harry called, struggling to reach the bank. "This isn't working."

"Yeah, no shit, scar-head," Zabini panted, dragging his wet body onto the shore.

Harry glared at him through his broken glasses lenses. "PMSing, Zabini?"

"Hermione takes offense to that," Ron pointed out, shaking his ginger head like a dog.

Hermione scowled and threw a pebble at him, wringing out her hair.

Malfoy- Draco! (must remember his name is Draco), chuckled drily and climbed up on one of the boulders to look further down the river, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand. He grimaced and hopped back down.

"Well?" Hermione asked. "What did you see?"

"The good news is that we aren't that far away from Professor Flittwick," he offered, fingering the ribbon tied around his wrist.

"And the bad...?" Nott probed.

M-Draco sighed and glanced at the river. "He's on the other side of the rapids."

Harry, Hermione, Zabini and Nott all groaned, Ron simply flopped onto the ground and whimpered.

"Kill me now!" he pleaded to the sky.

"Quit being so melodramatic, Weasley," Draco muttered, "We've come this far."

"Yeah, but how are we supposed to get past rapids?" Zabini whined. "If we can barely get through a strong current, we've got no chance with white water!"

"He's got a point," Hermione commended. "Our separate forces won't be enough to get through the rapids."

"What are you implying?" Harry asked fearfully.

Hermione grinned and raised an eyebrow. "As weak as we are divided is as strong as we are united."

"Are you completely sure about this?" Draco asked, staring at the rapids with fear in his eyes.

Hermione nodded resolutely, making sure that they were all in a straight line. "Our separate forces aren't enough to get us across individually. Combined however, we'll be able to get everyone across."

"But is the holding hands really necessary?" Zabini whined.

She sighed and turned to him. "I've told you, there isn't any other way, unless you've got a raft by any chance."

Zabini pouted but finally kept his mouth shut.

"Alright," Hermione said, tucking a curl behind her ear again, "Is everyone ready?"

"Hold on," Draco said suddenly, untying the ribbon from around his wrist. "Take this."

Hermione picked up the ribbon and held it in her palm, examining it. She looked at him questioningly. "And you're giving me this, because...?"

He flushed uncharacteristically and shifted his weight. "I thought you could use it to pull your hair back. It keeps hanging in your eyes, right?"

Hermione turned away and tied her hair back with the scrap of lace. "Um, right, thank you."

He'd noticed?

Someone cleared their throat and they turned around to see the others staring at them, worry in their eyes.

"So," Ron said awkwardly, "Are we gonna do this or what?"

"Right, right," Hermione said, getting back into planning mode. "Okay guys, join hands."

Ron and Zabini grumbled but complied, and the six of them formed a chain across the middle of the river.

Slowly, they struggled past the first rapid, and when water rushed into their faces, they were all very glad it was fresh and not salt.

"Keep going!" Harry called out. "We're almost at the second rapid!"

According to Draco there were only three rapids, so this was good new to Hermione.

The second rapid was almost twice the size of the first, and twice as hard to get past.

The rushing water pulled at Hermione's swim suit and the river rocks scraped against the soles of her sopping trainers. She spluttered as a jet of water forced its way into her mouth, and spat it back out into the current. Amazingly, Draco's ribbon somehow survived the trek, and remained in her hair when the group came out on the other side.

"Did everyone make it out?" Harry asked, blinking water out of his eyes.

"Sound off!" Ron called.

"I'm out," Hermione responded.

"Same here," said Draco.

"I've made it," Nott added.

"I am out and intact!" Zabini called.

"Shame," Ron said casually. "I was really hoping we could finally be rid of you."

Zabini scowled at him, but an exhausted Harry interrupted what was sure to be an argument.

"Calm down you two," he said. "We've only got one more rapid to go, and then hopefully we'll never have to go through something like this together again."

The two boys nodded in agreement, and Hermione looked warily at the third and final rapid. This one was rather different from the other two, and frankly a lot more scary. It was honestly more of a waterfall in the middle of the river than it was a rapid.

Water shot seven feet in the air and plummeted down fourteen feet more before it hit the surface of the river. It crashed into an inconveniently placed boulder, and pin-balled across the river in a white, churning mass. The current zig-zagged across the river before slamming up on the sandy bank, where short and sweating Professor Flittwick was waiting.

"Hold on a second," Harry said, picking up a stone from the river be. "I want to see something before we try this."

"Feel free," Zabini said nervously, "Take all the time you need, no hurry!"

Harry threw the stone and caught it a few times, testing the weight of it in his hand, before he drew his arm back and tossed it at the rapid.

The six of them watched as the rock sailed over the drop and hit the water with an ominous slap. The current carried it around and around until it hit the boulder with a crunch and shrank under the surface of the water.

Ron winced. "That sounds like it's going to hurt, I um- I think I'll just stay here."

"What," Draco taunted, "Scared, Weasel?"

Ron glared at him and squared his shoulders. "No chance in hell, Malfoy. Just thinking about your delicate sensibilities."

"Then grow a pair and quit simpering," Draco sneered at him.

"Listen up, ferret boy," Ron spat dangerously, stepping forward and poking Draco in the chest. "You're pretty damned lucky that we've been treating you like we have. More than half of the people on this trip would kill you in an instant the second they got the opportunity, and you know it too. In fact, the only thing that's been keeping them from doing just that it Harry, so you'd better be pretty fucking grateful he's willing to forgive you. 'Cuz the professors don't trust you, the DA doesn't trust you, and I sure as hell don't trust you! So if I were you, I'd watch my step. Clear?"

Draco glared at him and took a step back. "Crystal."

Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly and Harry moved so he was in between the two boys.

"Well, if you two are done with your peenus joust," he said, "Can we please get moving?"

"Fine," Ron said moodily, marching back to his place in line.

"With pleasure. The sooner I can get away from you Gryffindicks, the better," Draco growled, snatching Hermione's hand up roughly.

"For once, I agree with you, Malfoy," Harry said, "Let's go."

In a tense and awkward silence, they walked towards the drop and stared at it fearfully.

"Um, on the count of three?" Nott asked nervously.

Hermione nodded.

"1"

She remembered the crunch the rock made when it smashed against the boulder.

"2"

Everyone was still fighting. Would it ever end? Would they ever be in peace?

"3"

Draco's hand tightened around hers. Was he scared too?

"Go!"

Hermione closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped.


End file.
